Takshashila’s Nitin Pai quoted in India’s Doctrine Puzzle: Limiting War in South Asia by Ali Ahmed.

The book talks about the balance of power in South Asia and how India’s war doctrine changed after the Kargil war with Pakistan. Ahmed studies the effect of threatening neighbours on India’s war policy. Ahmed suggests that this change occurs because of the need for the military to adapt to the nuclear age by showing that disputing neighbours are especially dangerous when nuclear arms are involved. The book comprises of an analysis by Ahmed of India’s military strategy and doctrine and how that fits into the larger South Asian balance of power.

Nitin Pai’s talk at the Army War College in 2011 is quoted in the book. Pai shows that unity within India is an important strategic move. He says “[u]niting and keeping the country united has been the grand strategy of India’s rulers… The pursuit of the same grand strategy by different types of governments over two millennia suggests that the roots of India’s strategic culture are far deeper than we realise. India’s strategic culture … concerns itself with maintaining national unity. His conclusion is : ‘The upshot is that India must project power abroad to stay united at home.”